Kal Naismith admitted he fully understood the anger from Luton Town supporters after Burton Albion struck in stoppage time to snatch a 1-1 draw at Kenilworth Road on Saturday.
Boos rang out at full time, with tensions spilling over following a performance that saw the Hatters retreat into their shell after Nahki Wells’ early opener. The mood had already been edgy, with jeers heard inside 97 seconds as Luton attempted to build from the back.
Then as the team headed back to the changing rooms after the game, Naismith and boss Jack Wilshere got involved in confrontations with fans, with video footage emerging later on social media.
Talking to LTFC+ Naismith said the fans’ reaction was justified.
“That’s to be expected. The fans are passionate fans, that’s why I love playing for this club and they’ve got every right to voice their disappointment. They see us, they know that we’re good players and we’re better than what we’re showing and they probably feel the same as me, that we never really performed well. Even though we were winning 1-0, we’re not really taking the game to them and being ourselves.
“They see that and the frustration was building. The goal at the end and that obviously spills over, but I completely understand it from them. They’re passionate about their club, they love their club, they pay hard earned money to come and support us. We’ve had a lot of low points this season, but one thing the fans have not done is never turned up.
“You see it at a lot of other clubs where clubs are going through tough times and you look at the stands and they’re empty. It’s never been the case here, fans have come home and away, support the club and they’ve got every right to be frustrated.
“We want better, we’re frustrated in there and I feel for them, but I promise it’s not from a lack of effort. We’re constantly working and all we can do is bounce back and try to show that.”
Although Wells’ goal, created by Joe Johnson’s incisive pass, handed Luton the ideal start, confidence appeared fragile following the midweek defeat at relegation-threatened Wigan Athletic.
“We’ve been dealt a blow in midweek with the result, we knew it wasn’t good enough away from home, but one thing we’ve always done is that when we’ve been low at a lot of stages of the season, the lads have always been able to bounce back,” Naismith said.
“It was just about bouncing back, three points no matter what. It was just about giving everything to get that and we never played well in the second half, but for 70 minutes we’re looking at the clock and it was just dig in, defend, clean sheet wins us the game, so just be strong.
“We did that for large parts, but we weren’t ourselves, we didn’t play enough, we weren’t brave enough on the ball, we didn’t do a lot of things well like we can do, but I thought we were just going to see out the game. We just couldn’t get into a flow and play how we wanted to play to really get at them and hurt them, that’s how it felt on there.
“We weren’t good enough in possession, we weren’t playing good enough long balls to get in behind them, but then look, just defend, give it everything we’ve got, get three points and we can talk about it after we’ve got a good win behind us as we’ve been really good at home so we can keep moving forward and progressing. We don’t defend our box well enough and they get a last minute goal so it hurts, it’s a tough one to take.”
That late lapse, with Fabio Tavares heading home in added time, ensured the frustration that had simmered throughout the afternoon boiled over.
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